Cage for use in excavating trenches



April 7, 1953 G. B. SHIELDS 2,633,713

CAGE FOR USE IN EXCAVATING TRENCHES Afm/Ws April 7, 1953 G. B. sHlELnsCAGE FOR USE IN EXCAVATING TRENCHES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 24. 1949April 7, 1953 G. B. sHlELDs 2,633,713

CAGE FOR USE 1N EXCAVATING TRENcHEs Filed June 2 4, 1949 3 sheets-sheets /N vE/vroze 61E/VE B. Sil/EMS ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 7, 1953 s ergstorifice CAGE FOR USE IN EXCAVATING TRENO/HES Gene B. Shields,Greenville, hio, assigner to Treaty Excavating Corporation, Greenville,Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application June 24, 1949, Serial No.101,140

This invention relates to a trench cage that is adapted to be placed ina narrow trench to prevent the walls of the trench from caving in uponworkmen in the trench.

` The installation of storm sewer and sanitary sewer lines are requiresthat a deep trench be excavated, for the reason that the storm sewerline or the sanitary sewer line must be below the drain level of thebasement of the deepest building that will use the line.

' It is conventional to excavate such trenches to some ten or twelvefeet in depth.v Naturally, the dirt sidewalls of a narrow trench of atype excavated for sewer lines are rather insecure so that the positionof workmen in the bottom of a trench laying the sewer tile is extremelyhazardous.

It has been conventional practice, in order to safeguard workmen in deeptrenches, to shore the sidewalls of the trench by the use of plankingand suitable cross braces. However, the installation' of the shoring is,in itself, a hazardous job, since the workmen are working in an unshoredtrench. Also, the installation of snoring is an expensiveprocedure, andafter the sewer line is laid, the shoring must be removed before thetrench can be back filled.

Again, the planks used in shoring trenches have a relatively short lifeso that this again adds to the expense of laying sewer lines, or anyother line'that is to be laid in a deep trench.

Normally, narrow trenches, up to some seven or eight feet in depth, donot present any particular problem,` but, when trenches reach the depthof ten,.t,welve or fourteen feet, the dirt sidewalls of the trench aretoo insecure for safety of workmen in the trench. Thus, it is imperativethatsome type of support be provided for the wall of the trench, atleast in the area in which workmen will be present.

' It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a steel cagethat can be lowered into a trench to prevent cave-ins of the sidewallsand thus safeguard the workmen within the area of the cage.

Itis a still further object of this invention that, after the cage islowered into a trench, the cage be moved along in the trench from oneposition to another as the laying of the pipe line, or sewer tile,progresses so that the area within which workmen are present will alwayshave the walls of the trench supported, or at least the walls of thetrench will be prevented from caving in upon the workmen. In the portionof the trench following the position of the cage,

2 Claims. (Cl. (i1-41) that is, in that portion of the trench in whichthe pipe line, or sewer tile, has been laid, the removal of the cage, oradvancement of it in the direction of laying of the pipe line, willremove support from the walls of the trench, and if these unsupportedwalls should cave in, no trouble will be incurred since the pipe linehas already been laid and the workmen are no longer in that portion ofthe trench.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a cage for use,according to any of the foregoing objects, wherein the cage isconstructed in sections so that a cage of any desired height can bebuilt up, depending uponrthe depth of the trench into which it isplaced.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a trench cage foruse in accordance with any of the foregoing objects, wherein the cage isso constructed and arranged that it will not wedge between the walls ofa narrow trench, and should the walls of the trench cave in against thecage, the cage can be withdrawn from the cave-in section, the cage beingtapered from the forward advancing wall toward the rear trailing wallthereof for this purpose.

It is another object of the invention to provide a trench cageincorporating any of the features of the foregoing objects, and whereinthe cage supports a winch along the upper edges thereof to permitraising and lowering of pipe sections into the cage.

It is still another object of the invention to provide an improved andsafe method of laying pipe line, wherein an excavator is used forexcavating a trench of a desired depth and width that is immediatelyfollowed by a cage in the freshly excavated trench, in which caged areapipe line can be laid, and wherein excavation of the trench can occurimmediately in advancement of the caged area, and as the pipe line islaid within the caged area and the trench is excavated in advance of thecaged area, the cage of the caged area can be advanced into the justexcavated area for continuous laying of the pipe line with continuoustrench excavation.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent from the drawingsand the following description.

In the drawings;

Figure l illustrates a longitudinal cross section through a trench inwhich the cage of this invention is placed, and excavation is proceedingsimultaneously with pipe line laying to illustrate the method of layingpipe according to this in- Vention;

Figure 2 is a vertical cross sectional view of the cage of thisinvention taken along line 2-2- of Figure 3;

Figure 3 is a plan view of the cage of this invention;

Figure 4 is an elevational view of the lefthand end of the cageillustrated in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is an end' elevational View of the righthand end of the cageillustrated in Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a cross sectional view taken along line 6 6 of Figure 2,illustrating the manner of attachment between the sections of the cage;

Figure '7 is a perspective elevational view, illustrating the track thatcarries the winch on one of the cage sections;

Figure 8 is a transverse cross sectional view of the bottom section ofthe cage, illustrating a removable brace member;

Figure 9 is a perspective elevational view ofA the bottom section ofthecage;

Figure 10 is a cross sectional view taken along line ID-I ofFigure 9;

Figure 11 is anelevaticnal viewv of a winch for use on the cage, andincluding a hook for carrying pipe or tile sections into theV cage.

The trench cage of this invention consists-of a top section Ill, abottom section I I and any number. of intermediate sections i2. n thecage illustrated in Figure 2, each cage section is approximately fourfeet high and twelve feet long so that the use of one top section, onebottom section and one intermediate section will provide a cageapproximately twelve feet high and twelve feet long to take care ofaverage trench depths in laying sewer tile or in laying sewer line.However, any number of intermediate sections I2 can be'used to increasethe height of the cage to meet any depth condition required.

The bottom section II of the sectional cage consists of the sidewalls I3and I4. sidewalls comprises a sheet metal plate I 5 that is supportedalong the longitudinal edge by an angle iron member I6 and along thetransverse edge by the angle iron member I'I. The bottom longitudinaledge of the plate I5 is supported by the box iron structure I9. Thevarious members of the wall I3 are welded together to form a unitarystructure. The wall I4 is similarly constructed.

The wall members I3 and I4 of the bottom section are spaced apart inrelatively parallel relation a suitable distance by means of channeliron members 2!) and 2| placed at each upper corner of the Wall sectionsI3 and I4, as illustrated in Figure 9.

At the forward end'of the lower section II., there is provided a sheetmetal plate 22 that prevents dirt in the bottom wall of the trench fromrolling into the cage section when it is advanced through the trench.

Cross braces 23 and 24 extend between the opposite walls I3 and I4 toprovide strength at this end of the structure. These cross braces aresuitably welded to the walls I3 and I4, and if desired, at the point atwhich they cross one another.

The box frame structure I9 along the bottom edge of the sidewalls I3 andi4 gives additional rigidity to the trench section to preventsubstantial inward movement of the walls I3 and I4.

However, should there be any substantial inward movement of the walls I3and I4 in the bottom section II that takes the greatest strain in theevent of a trench wall cave-in, there is provided a removable crossbrace 25, illustrated in Figure 8. This cross brace is hinged to theEach of the wall section I3 so that it can be moved upwardly into aninoperative position along the wall I3, or be placed in operativeposition against a stop 26 secured to the wall I4 to give additionalcross bracing at the mid point of the Wall sections I3 and I4.

The angle iron members I6 and I6a each have a series of holesv 21 and27a;` that: correspond to a like series of holes in the intermediateframe section I2 for attachment of the intermediate frame section to thebottom section II by the use of suitable bolts 30, as illustrated inFigures 2 and 6.

The intermediate frame section of the cage is constructed in a mannervery much like that of the bottom section II of the cage except that thebottom edge of the sidewalls of the frame section I2 are provided withan angle iron reenforcing member in place of the box structure member I9provided along the bottom edge of the bottom framel sectionA II.v Also,the intermediate brace member 25, used at the bottom section I I, is notused inthe intermediate section I 2, but, if such intermediate'braceshould be nec essary, it can, of. course, be used in the intermediateframe sectionas well` as in the top sec-M tion I0.

The intermediate framesection I2 for the cageV is thus constructed of arectangular angle iron frame consisting of the longitudinallypositionedv members 3| and 32, and the transversely positioned members33. and 34 that are suitably welded together and which support thesidewall sheet metal member 35.

The channel ironV members 36 and 31 extend between oppositewalls 38 and39 of the intermediate section I2 to space these Walls from one:

another the same distance that the channel iron members 2D and 2I spacethe walls I3 and I4 of the bottom section II.

Cross braces 60 and BI extend between the Walls 38 and 39 at each end ofthe intermediateV section I2 to give additional rigidity.

The intermediate section I2 is secured to the top section Il)k by bolts63 in the same manner that the intermediate section I 2 is secured tothe- The intermediate section I2,`

bottom section II. as well as the bottomA section II and the top sectionI0, is, taperedA from the forward. advancing wall of the cagetoward therearward trailing wall thereof so thatl the cagecan be readily ad-v of,a platform 46 containing the rollers or Wheels.

4'I that operate in the tracks 40.

A vertical standard 48 extends upwardly from the, platform 46 and,supports an arm 49 that is rotatably positioned upon the standard 48.

A suitable winch drum, 50 is carried on thestandard 48. The drum 50carries the cable 5I that passes over'the pulleys 52 and 53 and carriesa hookV 54 on the end thereof. The hook 54 supports a pipe hook 55engaging one of the openings 56 provided inthe pipeA hook.

The pipe hook 55 is U-shaped in form and is provided with a plurality ofholes 56 in the:

anged reenforcing member 51 to provide for horizontally balancing ofpipe of dierent lengths when carried on the winch hook 54.

To lock the winch in place on the tracks, one or `more pins 90 can bepositioned in holes 9| provided in one or both of the tracks 40.

In Figure 1 the trench cage of this invention is illustrated in use. Atrench 15 has been excavated and the trench cage T has been lowered intothe excavated part 15 of the trench. The trench cage T has been advancedinto an excavated portion of the trench to protect a workman laying tilewithin the trench. The unsupported portion of the trench 15 is behindthe area in which the workman is located so that the workman in thecaged area is safe from trench cave-ins, even though the trench shouldcave in behind the caged area.

On the forward side of the caged area, an excavator is operating theexcavating bucket 8B for producing a trench in advance of the cagedarea. It will thus be noted that a workman can work with entire safetywithin the caged area while the trench is being excavated in advance ofthe workman, the cage itself eliminating any danger of injury to theworkman from any accidental movement of the excavating bucket 80 intothe working area, since the cage T limits the movement of the excavatingbucket.

When the trench is excavated a sufhcient disv tance in advance ofthecage T, and workmen have completed laying tile within the caged area, achain 8l attached to the bottom cage section l I by means of eyes 82 isengaged by the excavating bucket 80 so that the operator of theexcavator can pull the cage forward into the freshly excavated trencharea by use of the power of the excavator.

As the cage T moves forward, as dragged by the excavator, the forwardwall 22 at the bottom section Il of the cage T will prevent excess earthfrom passing into the cage, thus eliminating the necessity of any manualdigging or removal of earth from within the caged area. Thus', when thecage is moved forward, the bottom wall of the trench is smooth and readyto receive the tile or pipe that is being laid. It will thus be seenthat the use of the cage T provides an improved and safe method oflaying pipe in deep trenches wherein the excavation of the trench canproceed simultaneously with the laying of the pipe and immediately inadvance of the area in which pipe is being laid. The method thuseliminates the necessity of digging long trenches and the shoring of thetrench before pipe laying operations can proceed, and eliminates thenecessity of removal of the shoring upon completion of the pipe layingoperation.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A unitary trench cage structure comprising, a structure substantiallythat of a truncated cone in horizontal transverse cross section havingclosed vertical side-walls and open end walls and top and bottom walls,said structure including structural members extending between saidclosed walls at opposite ends of the structure to retain said closedwalls in spaced relationship, reenforcing members extendinglongitudinally and transversely of said closed walls to reenforce thesame secured together and to said walls forming a frame along the edgesof the walls, and a plate member extending transversely between saidclosed walls at the narrow end of the structure with the bottom edge ofthe plate member in substantially the same plane as the bottom edges ofsaid sidewalls.

2. A unitary trench cage structure comprising, a structure having ahorizontal transverse cross section substanitally that of a truncatedcone and having closed vertical sidewalls and open end walls and top andbottom walls, said structure including structural members extendingbetween said closed walls at opposite ends of the structure to retainsaid closed Walls in spaced relationship, and reenforcing membersextending longitudinally and transversely of said closed walls toreenforce the saine, and a brace member extending between said closedwalls near the bottom thereof and intermediate the opposite ends thereofand movable into and out of a position transverse of said Walls.

GENE B. SHIELDS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 840,747 Byrne Jan. 8, 19071,634,104 Henick June 28, 1927k 1,768,146 Rainey June 24, 1930 1,792,855McRae Feb. 17, 1931 1,829,162 Solter et al Oct. 27, 1931 1,991,919Bruins Feb. 19, 1935 2,188,077 Dowd Jan. 23, 1940 2,260,423 WashbourneOct. 28, 1941 2,324,465 Bleakley July 20, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS NumberCountry Date 4,271 Great Britain of 1903 537,585 Germany of 1931

